On November 1, Kalamazoo RESA (KRESA) Great Start Collaborative held a Talking is Teaching Community Barbershop Event in partnership with The Fatherhood Network and Kalamazoo Public Library. Families who attended this event were offered free haircuts from College Cutz barbershop, free meals from the local restaurant Ty's Joint, and free books signed by Vashti Harrison, Kalamazoo Public Library's visiting award-winning children's book author.
"We are incredibly fortunate to have such creative, committed partners like the library and the Fatherhood Network who always say ‘yes’ to these collaborative opportunities. Kalamazoo is rich with people and programs that are committed to early literacy development. They know that their investment of time, talent, and resources creates equity." stated Jen Stroven, campaign manager for Talking is Teaching within the Great Start Collaborative.
"In addition to College Cutz, we have four other barbershops as part of our Talking is Teaching initiative: The Vine Barbershop, Samson's, Presidential Blend Suite and International Profyle — all located within the city of Kalamazoo — and we are always looking to add more! We look forward to hosting more community barbershop events in the future, celebrating these businesses AND their commitment to providing hundreds of children's books for their clients."
"With our organizations working together for this event we owned the corner for 3 hours. This type of partnership between organizations should be the model for future events." added Derek S Miller, Director of Operations at The Fatherhood Network.
Learn more about KRESA’s Great Start Collaborative and their other initiatives to ensure every child in Kalamazoo County has a Great Start in school and life at Home | kalamazoogsc.
About Kalamazoo County Great Start Collaborative (GSC): Kalamazoo County GSC is a program of Kalamazoo RESA and a partnership of local organizations and parents who are working to improve our early childhood system for every family in the community.
About Kalamazoo County Talking is Teaching: Talking is Teaching is an initiative of the Kalamazoo County GSC that works alongside parents to recognize their impact on their children’s early brain & literacy development. Talking is Teaching offers materials and activities that are easy, everyday ways to boost your children’s brain power.
